Seed and plant banks are a form of ex situ and in situ -conservation. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines in situ conservation as “the conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties” whereas ex situ conservation is conserving components of biodiversity outside their natural habitats.[1] Seed and plant banks in the context of food production ensure agricultural biodiversity which further relates to food system resilience, food security and productivity. CBD defines agricultural biodiversity to include all components of biological diversity having relevance to food and agriculture, as well as those constituting of agro-ecosystems. Variety and variability of animals, plants, micro-organisms in their gene, species and ecosystems levels are all included. According to the definition all these are of essence in sustaining the key functions of the agricultural ecosystem with its structure and processes.
Seed and plant banks ensure intra- and interspcesies diversity of crop species and varieties. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) there was some 7-8 million accessions around the world conserved in field collections, seed banks and cryopreservation or in vitro conditions in 2010.[2]
The need for saving seeds
The motivation behind conserving food related plant diversity arises from the idea of genetic erosion, process driven by modern plant breeding efforts
and agricultural practices. The mechanization of farming practices along and including the use of fertilizers, pesticides, mechanization, irrigation, abandonment of marginal lands and crop specialization all have their possible input for genetic erosion of crop species. However, the effect has not been uniform; whereas intensification on agricultural practices and a specialized seed industry in Europe and Northern America led to abandonment of local varieties and to homogenization of the species gene pool already during the 19th and 20th century, the less developed areas such as South-Africa are still actively using more diverse seed sources.[3]
Special attention has recently given to crop wild relatives (CRW) which are the uncultivated species representing greater genetic variability than their domesticated forms. Domesticated species have gone through a genetic bottleneck caused by human, meaning that by favoring certain kinds of representations of genetic variability the overall gene pool has decreased drastically. CRW conservation by in situ ensures that the populations keep adapting and evolving with the conditions of their natural range and thus generating novel genetic material for changing conditions. Preventing genetic losses is also done on on-farm reservoirs of traditional varietes and neglegted and underutilized species (NUS) which can also be seen as a form of plant banking.[4]
The most known seed bank is propably the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV) in the island of Spitsberger, Norway. It operates as a backup or a duplicate storing place for all seedbanks globally, offering security against unforeseeable events or accidents possibly facing the national collections - even wars. Iraq and Afghanistan lost their seed banks in recent wars, luckily Syria managed to save theirs in SGSV.[5]
SGSV was established as a partnership between the Government of Norway, NordGen, and the Crop Trust. The Crop Trust was founded
by FAO and Bioversity International on behalf of a Global Agricultural Research Partnership in 2004 to support and fund the International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGR). ITPGR was established to conserve and use crop diversity for food security.
Critique
Even though seed banking has many benefits as a method of conserving biodiversity over other mentioned genebanking methods, such as low labor costs and space efficient storage, many economically important seeds such as coffee or cocoa are recalcitrant, i.e. the seeds don't tolerate the process of drying or freezing needed for the seeds to be stored in seedbanks. Different seeds also have differing, often unknown storage times until they lose their germinability and for this reason the collections need need testing as well as restocking.[6]
Link to SDG's
Seed and plant banks are directly related to UN SDG 2 Zero Hunger target to "By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed." It also relates to Zero Hunger aim to increase investments in areas of international cooperation, research, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks to enhance agroproduction capacity in developing countries.
Corporate praxis and innovations
A study published in Science states to have found the original taste of tomato, the highest value fruit and vegetable globally, again. Commercial varieties of tomatoes get most complaints about their flavor, which has been overlooked in the process of cultivation in relation to more pressing issues to the producers and retailers, such as firmness, resistance to pests and overall appearance. In the study some 400 modern, NUS and wild species and varieties of tomatoes were gene mapped to find genetic loci that affect most of the target flavor chemicals, including sugars, acids, and volatiles. Several were identified.[7]
The possibility to offer tastier tomatos and at the same time keep all the good aspects of modern tomatos is bound to have wide commercial benefits and the study represents one straightforward example of the benefits of maintaining plant diversity. Even though not maybe as straightforward, innovations like this will probably have great effects to e.g. amount of food waste; if one of the most commonly used plants tastes good, it will more probably be eaten than tossed away.
Examples from Finland
Finland states its international targets considering seed and plant banks and conservation in the Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Finland for the years 2012-2020. These include for example the target 9 of CBD (2010): 70 % of the genetic diversity of crops including their wild relatives and other socio-economically valuable plant species conserved, while respecting, preserving and maintaining associated indigenous and local knowledge.[8]
^ Van de Wouw, M., Kik, C., van Hintum, T., van Treuren, R., & Visser, B. (2010). Genetic erosion in crops: concept, research results and challenges. Plant Genetic Resources, 8(01), 1-15.
^ Dulloo, M. E. (2010). Ex situ and in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity: major advances and research needs. Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca, 38(2), 123.
^ Ensslin, A., Tschöpe, O., Burkart, M., & Joshi, J. (2015). Fitness decline and adaptation to novel environments in ex situ plant collections: current knowledge and future perspectives. Biological Conservation, 192, 394-401.
^ Tieman, D., Zhu, G., Resende, M. F., Lin, T., Nguyen, C., Bies, D., ... & Ikeda, H. (2017). A chemical genetic roadmap to improved tomato flavor. Science, 355(6323), 391-394.
^ Fitzgerald, H. (2013). The national crop wild relative strategy report for Finland.
Definition
Seed and plant banks are a form of ex situ and in situ -conservation. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines in situ conservation as “the conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties” whereas ex situ conservation is conserving components of biodiversity outside their natural habitats.[1] Seed and plant banks in the context of food production ensure agricultural biodiversity which further relates to food system resilience, food security and productivity. CBD defines agricultural biodiversity to include all components of biological diversity having relevance to food and agriculture, as well as those constituting of agro-ecosystems. Variety and variability of animals, plants, micro-organisms in their gene, species and ecosystems levels are all included. According to the definition all these are of essence in sustaining the key functions of the agricultural ecosystem with its structure and processes.
Seed and plant banks ensure intra- and interspcesies diversity of crop species and varieties. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) there was some 7-8 million accessions around the world conserved in field collections, seed banks and cryopreservation or in vitro conditions in 2010.[2]
The need for saving seeds
The motivation behind conserving food related plant diversity arises from the idea of genetic erosion, process driven by modern plant breeding efforts
and agricultural practices. The mechanization of farming practices along and including the use of fertilizers, pesticides, mechanization, irrigation, abandonment of marginal lands and crop specialization all have their possible input for genetic erosion of crop species. However, the effect has not been uniform; whereas intensification on agricultural practices and a specialized seed industry in Europe and Northern America led to abandonment of local varieties and to homogenization of the species gene pool already during the 19th and 20th century, the less developed areas such as South-Africa are still actively using more diverse seed sources.[3]
Special attention has recently given to crop wild relatives (CRW) which are the uncultivated species representing greater genetic variability than their domesticated forms. Domesticated species have gone through a genetic bottleneck caused by human, meaning that by favoring certain kinds of representations of genetic variability the overall gene pool has decreased drastically. CRW conservation by in situ ensures that the populations keep adapting and evolving with the conditions of their natural range and thus generating novel genetic material for changing conditions. Preventing genetic losses is also done on on-farm reservoirs of traditional varietes and neglegted and underutilized species (NUS) which can also be seen as a form of plant banking.[4]
The most known seed bank is propably the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV) in the island of Spitsberger, Norway. It operates as a backup or a duplicate storing place for all seedbanks globally, offering security against unforeseeable events or accidents possibly facing the national collections - even wars. Iraq and Afghanistan lost their seed banks in recent wars, luckily Syria managed to save theirs in SGSV.[5]
SGSV was established as a partnership between the Government of Norway, NordGen, and the Crop Trust. The Crop Trust was founded
by FAO and Bioversity International on behalf of a Global Agricultural Research Partnership in 2004 to support and fund the International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGR). ITPGR was established to conserve and use crop diversity for food security.
Critique
Even though seed banking has many benefits as a method of conserving biodiversity over other mentioned genebanking methods, such as low labor costs and space efficient storage, many economically important seeds such as coffee or cocoa are recalcitrant, i.e. the seeds don't tolerate the process of drying or freezing needed for the seeds to be stored in seedbanks. Different seeds also have differing, often unknown storage times until they lose their germinability and for this reason the collections need need testing as well as restocking.[6]
Link to SDG's
Seed and plant banks are directly related to UN SDG 2 Zero Hunger target to "By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed." It also relates to Zero Hunger aim to increase investments in areas of international cooperation, research, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks to enhance agroproduction capacity in developing countries.
Corporate praxis and innovations
A study published in Science states to have found the original taste of tomato, the highest value fruit and vegetable globally, again. Commercial varieties of tomatoes get most complaints about their flavor, which has been overlooked in the process of cultivation in relation to more pressing issues to the producers and retailers, such as firmness, resistance to pests and overall appearance. In the study some 400 modern, NUS and wild species and varieties of tomatoes were gene mapped to find genetic loci that affect most of the target flavor chemicals, including sugars, acids, and volatiles. Several were identified.[7]
The possibility to offer tastier tomatos and at the same time keep all the good aspects of modern tomatos is bound to have wide commercial benefits and the study represents one straightforward example of the benefits of maintaining plant diversity. Even though not maybe as straightforward, innovations like this will probably have great effects to e.g. amount of food waste; if one of the most commonly used plants tastes good, it will more probably be eaten than tossed away.
Examples from Finland
Finland states its international targets considering seed and plant banks and conservation in the Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Finland for the years 2012-2020. These include for example the target 9 of CBD (2010): 70 % of the genetic diversity of crops including their wild relatives and other socio-economically valuable plant species conserved, while respecting, preserving and maintaining associated indigenous and local knowledge.[8]